What’s an alpha to do when he’s found his fated mate, but she reacts to the news by kicking him in the balls?

Gretchen Halbmond became a diehard Daddy’s girl the day her mother ran out on them both. She doesn’t believe in love and isn’t looking for it, but when her ailing father is attacked and left bloody by wolves on the wrong side of the law, she goes out in search of what she does believe in: Justice.

Sheriff Talon Garde has way too much on his plate. Humans have breached shifters’ carefully guarded privacy and are about to go public. If he can’t stop them, what happened to Gretchen’s father is going to be the least of everyone’s worries.

More importantly, despite Talon’s rep as a bad ass alpha whose growl strikes fear in the hearts of criminals, Gretchen’s scent makes him go all squishy inside. She’s THE ONE, he’s sure of it. There’s just that small matter of convincing Gretchen it’s pointless to fight fate…and surviving the way she fights it.

Standalone novel with NO cliffhanger.

NOTE: While this is book 2 of the Huntsville Pack series, all the books are completely standalone. The series does revisit favorite characters, but the plots don’t carry over from book to book, they are resolved at the end of each story.

She gasped when she finally pieced together what she was seeing. Bones. Dozens of them, stripped clean and carefully hung in the brush with rough twine. “Umm, Talon?” She pointed to what looked like a human leg bone.

“Yeah.” He turned back to look at her. Following the direction of her gaze, he leaned down and yanked one of the bones free.

“That’s not good is it?” she asked.

“Nope,” came Talon’s short reply. “But it doesn’t change our plan.” He tossed the bone away and motioned for her to follow him. “Come on. Don’t get sidetracked.”

“He decorates his house with dead things,” she hissed at him. “You don’t think that’s a problem?”

Talon just shrugged. “These bones are so old, they don’t even smell. It’s not an immediate threat.” He turned back to look at her once again. “Or do you want to wait in the car? Is that it? You’re scared?”

Gretchen drew herself up to her full height, which didn’t accomplish much given that Talon was a good head taller than her. Still, she had her pride and he’d just insulted it. She would stand as tall as she could. “I’m not scared. I’m horrified, but not terrified. I’m not going to hide in the car either.”

Talon tapped a finger by his eye. “Then focus, Halbmond. This isn’t the time to get lost in the small details. It’s just the two of us against whatever’s going on here. We can’t afford to get distracted.” He walked on, his stride long and full of purpose. Clearly, he didn’t plan on waiting for her any more.

Gretchen hastened to catch up to him, not wanting to be left alone with Axel’s gruesome lawn ornaments. They crept around to the back of the house, same as they’d done earlier that night with the human monster hunter. This is getting to be a theme, Gretchen thought. One I would prefer to avoid. She could not wait until this was all over and she could get back into a kitchen.

“I’m going to bake a shitload of cookies and cakes when this is over,” she muttered under her breath. By her estimate, she needed to bake a few dozen cookies, a couple of layer cakes and mix some big batches of ice cream to feel normal again.

Talon heard her and gave her a puzzled look. “What are you going on about?”

“Nothing.” Her cheeks grew hot.

“We’re not planning a menu here, okay?”

“I know. It’s just…baking is my coping mechanism.” She bit her lip, worrying it back and forth.

“Bake me some brownies then, but later, okay? Until we’re done here, can we please stay on task?” he asked, his tone aggrieved. Then, his expression softening, he put a thumb on her lower lip and tugged it free from her teeth. Cupping her cheek in his hand, he ran his thumb over her mouth. “Relax, Halbmond. I got this. It’s going to be okay, all right?”

She just nodded, too embarrassed to say anything. Not to mention, the way he’d touched her had been so tender and full of kindness it had rocked her a bit. It set off the same fireworks in her system that their kisses had. Her wolf had perked up, too, very happy with attention from the alpha male she liked so much.

NY Times and USA Today Bestselling author Michelle Fox lives in the Midwest with her husband, kids, the occasional exchange student and two, sweetly disobedient dogs. She loves fantasy and romance, which makes writing paranormal romance a natural fit. Occasionally, she goes through a maverick phase and writes contemporary romance. In her spare time, she’s been known to shake her bon-bon at Zumba, make spectacular cheesecakes, hoard vintage costume jewelry and eat way too much ice cream (Ben and Jerry’s Karamel Sutra for the win!).